Academic Services Building

Black and white photo of a building with large windows and vertical columns. Snow covers the ground. Two individuals, one pushing a bicycle and the other walking, are near the building. Pine trees are visible in the background. — The Loft (1975);

A black-and-white photo of a nearly empty bar with a few people seated at the counter. The bar is lined with bottles, and there's a clock on the wall. Several chairs and tables fill the foreground. The room has a vintage feel, with posters and signs on the walls. — The Loft (1975);

A construction site with scattered materials, metal drums, wooden planks, and other debris on the ground. A brick building with windows under renovation is in the background, and a leafy tree with yellow foliage stands to the right. — Construction (1999)

A brick building with large, dark-tinted windows and metal awnings above them. A well-maintained lawn with trimmed bushes lines the front of the building. A portion of a yellow-painted curb and a paved walkway is visible in the foreground. — Building (2007)

A black and white image of a bookstore interior. It features various shelves filled with books, magazines, and other reading materials. The lighting is fluorescent, and there is a display stand on a counter in the foreground. The store appears well-organized.

A person is sitting on the floor in a store with shelves stacked with various goods on either side. The person is facing a back wall filled with an assortment of organized items. The setting has a dimly lit, cluttered atmosphere, evoking a sense of busyness.

Black and white photo of a woman reaching for a book on a high shelf in a room filled with stacks of books. She is wearing a coat and is standing among large piles of books that are organized along narrow aisles. The lighting is fluorescent overhead.

Two women in a bookstore smile as they organize piles of books. One reaches for a book on a high shelf, while the other holds several books and has a paper in her mouth. Shelves filled with various books line the narrow aisle.

(Click thumbnails for larger images)

The building that now houses Academic Services has gone through many renovations and changes since it was constructed in 1974. This building was the first Student Center on campus; the entry level featured the campus post office, with mailboxes for students which had, until that time, been located in Mary Commons. From the post office/entry area, steps led down half a flight to a new bookstore, and up half a flight to “The Loft” which provided food service, dining area and a television lounge.

When The Loft was built, there was only money enough to get the food service running and very little for good furnishings. In the summer of 1982, The Loft was renovated with new furniture and new equipment for food services. The dining services also became part of the meal plan instead of having cash-only sales. These renovations did not exceed $40,000.

The Loft soon became too small to accommodate the growing number of students, and in 1992 plans for a new student center began to develop. In 1995, the Haehn Campus Center was completed and the Loft was vacated. The bookstore, however, remained in the building until the Mary Commons renovation of 2000.

When the bookstore vacated the building and the Ardolf Science Center was built adjacent to it, the building underwent another renovation, this time to provide offices for the Registrar, Academic Advising and Career Services, which had been located in the basement of Aurora Hall. Their new location was renamed the campus Academic Services Building (ASB).

After the College of St. Benedict’s purchased three adjacent buildings for administrative offices, a series of changes in many department locations occurred. In Fall 2019, Experience and Professional Development (XPD), temporarily in Henrita Academic Building at the time, was moved to the ASB. The President and her staff also moved to the second floor of Mary Commons and various academic departments were re-located to the Main Building. The ASB also underwent remodeling in 2019 to provide for academic departments displaced from the Main Building such as Academic Advising, Registrar, Student Accounts, Financial Aid, and Student Employment.

Selected Bibliography

“Board Approves Construction of Student Center,” Vitae, May 5, 1973, p. 1.

“Vitae Urges Student Center Action,” Vitae, October 11, 1973, p. 5.

Piatz, Karen “3.2 Invades Campus,” Vitae, September 26, 1974, p. 2.

Devine, Mary “Feedservice Hungry for Feedback,” Cable, October 29, 1982, p. 5.